I am teaching a reading class in the month of May for our May Experience term. Two of these books are in genres I haven't yet read - sports and Amish romance. I haven't decided which way to go so I may go both ways and read the Bissinger and the Clipston.

The McKenzie is on the Baileys shortlist, the Okorafor is on the Arthur C. Clarke shortlist (but I have read other books by her, and The Book of Phoenix is the prequel to my favorite, Who Fears Death.) The Moody just jumped out at me while at the public library, as did the Pears (I had tried the audio and couldn't get into it but still was intrigued by the description... I suspect this author may just not be for me....)

I requested the McCarry, the Garnier, the Walker, and the Zarhin through interlibrary loan. I loved the first Paul Christopher novel, and came across the Zarhin on a publisher's website sale. The Walker is the May read for a feminist book club in Goodreads; I've read poetry by Walker before but not short stories.

I have been wanting to read the Szabo but haven't cracked it yet. Robyn, my amazing co-worker with impeccable book taste, thought I might want to read the Strand so she saved it for me. I've dipped into one interview and enjoyed it, so I will likely read it in chunks between other things.

Monday, May 9, 2016

I am teaching a class for our May Experience term (15 days) on... reading! I know, I know. Big surprise. The class will have daily reflections and I thought I'd invite the world to play along.

During class on the first day, Wednesday, students will reflect on these questions and then talk about whichever parts they feel like sharing. This is how we will introduce ourselves to one another!

1. What place does reading hold in your life right now?
2. What kind of reader are you?
3. What are you hoping to learn or gain from this class?
4. What is one book you would like to read before our time together is over, one that has been on your shelf or on your radar?

Now go ahead; play along! Comment here or create your own response and link to it in the comments. Or flag me down in Twitter.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The pile was manageable and then I stopped at the Friends of the Library Book Sale for the Greenville County Public Library. I've lived in Greenville County ten years but this was the first time at this book sale. I will add it to my rotation now! I ended up with several memoirs and other books I've been wanting to read, only one I had read previously. I have some other books in this pile from other places, so I will explain more below!

I recently contributed to a PEN America kickstarter campaign that will work to bring additional translations of literature from other places to our publishing industry. Part of my donation came with the gift of Passages: Africa and the Ang.

The Barron and the Liu were recent wins in Goodreads giveaways.

The rest are from the book sale - Atwood because I always snag a book by her if I haven't read it yet, the Bragg because it seems like an important southern work, the McCarry because I recently read a book by him and really enjoyed it, the Sontag because it sounded like a memoir that might cover some familiar ground, Heller & Bonjalian because I've always meant to try them, Doctorow because I've read that book a million times but want to own the paperback, French because I read the first one and wanted to keep going, Ozma because it seemed related, and Mann because it was a finalist in nonfiction for the National Book Award in 2015.